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my mecca is beautiful scotland- i take my family as many times as we can afford (about once a year but not every year) theres something about the place it calls to us; the pace of life ( and Im from Devon and its slow here!! ) the amazing countryside, the lack of cars, the isolation & the wildness and the food is so fresh and lovely-must be something to do with the lack of supermarkets. Ive spoken to other people who love scotland and they say theyre drawn to it and cry when they leave. Could this be the calming effect of nature? certainly going back to our raw being can be a spiritual experience, it can make us feel truly alive. Well i cant wait we`re off this year to loch awe where the scenery along the coast is as beautiful as the deer and eagles. Is there another place in the world that is as special as scotland?

I've not been to Scotland, well a day trip to Edinburg but I'm sure that doesn't count!

I feel the same as you but my places would have to be Ireland, rural Japan, rural Spain and here in the North east....oh and Cornwall too!

Ah, there are so many amazing places, but I guess I should visit Scotland properly and then I would be able to say for sure if there is a place in the world as special as Scotland..... Where would you recommend in Scotland?

everywhere!!! well ok i`ll narrow it down a bit. Glencoe, the cairngorms, Fort william to Skye;the five sisters & the Kyle of Lochalsh- on the way to Skye. Perthshire yes the whole county! queen elizabeth forest park if you like woodlands and forrestry, the `wrong side` of loch ness, Argyl including lomond and the coast, The island of Mull. The Trossachs, glen garry, amongst loads of others. These places are great for wildlife watching, mountains, expanses of water and the tranquility that brings, fresh air! great coastline views-much more staggering than cornwall and a breathtaking untouched beauty. The west is milder than the east so i dont expect to see snow this christmas but its wonderful if it does come, the sunshine after a snowfall is glorious. On my list of places left to vist -glenshee, Braemar & Ballater,Dornoch, Glen Affric, Wester Ross and further north! when the kids & dogs are older then we ll go exploring.Oh Ive been told this week the colours are amazing this time of year........

those pictures are wonderful-the nearest ive been is Acharacle its extremely remote up there-on the ardnamurchan peninsula. How does it make you feel?-i get a real connection with the place and hopefully ive passed this onto the kids too, just looking at pics makes me all misty eyed. I know this is supposed to be a spritual kind of thread but i dont really feel the same way for anywhere else in the world....not even home-why can this be? its not as if i was born there or anything?i dont understand...am i just a sad old townie....

We have relatives that now live in Scotland and we usually try and get up to see them once a year... and we all adore it.... and hate it when its time to go home and yes I have shed tears when the holiday as come to an end .... its just such a beautiful place, and so friendly. We couldn't go this year and we have so missed the visit... ah well, maybe next year

................................................................................................................................Kind words are short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.Mother Teresa

I love Scotland too and of course the wonderful people from there who are such a joy to be around, so alive and full of stimulation. I have been to Inverness, Glencoe, Edinburgh, Glasgow (where my brother lives), Oban, Ben Nevis (but not up it yet!) and other unremembered places.........In Argument Cottage we get lots of visitors from Scotland as possibly it is similar beauty here in the North East and North Yorkshire to there. One couple even penned a poem to our cottage called 'A Tribute to Argument Cottage', which used the tune to 'The road and miles to Dundee' with adapted verses of course. We were so delighted by the poem it hangs proudly on the wall.........

I love Scotland and the Scottish people, well said for posting this message!

I love Scotland too,I fell in love the first time we toured (on a concert trip with a youth choir, two weeks Scotland and 10 concerts) in 1987. Have been in touch ever since as we were staying with local folk. Took up English in uni because of it,went to Edinburgh uni for an exchange year because of it,then eventually, decided that I needed to move there.Had my ups and downs since living here, have changed life completely, have been retrainedhave been jobless twicehave had to fit in

but I have the feeling I belong here, it's where I want to beI even work for Scotland now,and every morning, sitting in the bus travelling up to Highland Perthshire, I feel that blessed feeling of being allowed to be part of it.

And I love the local food, berries, fresh veg, fish, game, local produce, ... I even love the cold winter rain!

pod wrote:those pictures are wonderful-the nearest ive been is Acharacle its extremely remote up there-on the ardnamurchan peninsula. How does it make you feel?-i get a real connection with the place and hopefully ive passed this onto the kids too, just looking at pics makes me all misty eyed. I know this is supposed to be a spritual kind of thread but i dont really feel the same way for anywhere else in the world....not even home-why can this be? its not as if i was born there or anything?i dont understand...am i just a sad old townie....

The place makes me feel alive, the whisky advert actually hits the nail on the head, with their statement the Glen of tranquility. Land Lizards on the stone walls around Moidart, the rivers under bridges clear and full of large fish, deer on the mountains, impossible to get close enough to the herd to get a a good photo in normal modern clothes, Highland people with relaxed interesting conversation, who still dont trust lowlanders, superb.

I also like hiring a deep draft fishing boat, self operate, and take a day trip down lock Shiel, near the bottom there is an island with ancient graves on it, it is supposed to be a sacred burying place, some of the lords of the isles are buried there allegedly, and has a really nice feel about it, not one you can explain you have to stand there yourself. The mountains are imposing where the Loch narrows and waves build with the wind in these narrows, lovely pebble beaches in the middle of nowhere to pull the boat in to and sit and eat a picnic, fantastic.

Different parts create different feelings. The small island I spoke of and Tio-ram give a charge of strength, which is why I looked in to their past/history after being there, maybe this feeling came to the first people who visited the site and it is why they chose those sites for such importance, Nevis and some of the other places give the feeling of isolation and the strength and brutality of weather, then the small valleys and sheltered areas are full of Lichen covered tree trunks and teaming with wildlife if you sit still away from people for only a few minutes.

The one thing that spooks the hell out of me up there, is when you steer a boat in from the deep Loch up the river channnels, even though the river may be 40ft deep or maybe more, you can see the bottom, the surface of the water is like a sheet of glass, I do not suffer from vertigo on roofs etc not even 100ft up, but find it difficult to look over the edge of the boat, I am used to not being able to see the bottom!!

Great place. I always wanted to go to Switzerland, but as I was mooring the boat I started talking to some people who were pitching a camp and they were Swiss! They preferred Scotland as it was larger, more rugged and wild!

Be warned!! Not all of Scotland is as it seems!!While there are still some amazing beautiful wild places the NE where I live is firmly Oil country and proud of it.We are fighting to keep paths open onto mountains and struggle daily with bike and horse verses commuting cars (ppl here commute round trips of 80 miles and more a day )

I don't want to put you off...far from it I LOVE Scotland, but just be careful if you ever decide to take the plunge...do your homework well!!

pod wrote: Is there another place in the world that is as special as scotland?

Having spent a good deal of my working life in the Western Isles onboard boats the only bad thing I can say is:

"it's climate is too far north!!!"

................................................................................................................................"the luxuries of civilisation satisfy only those wants which they themselves create..." The Worst Journey In The World - Apsley Cherry-Garrard (1922)"Fleeing from the Cylon tyranny, the last Battlestar, Galactica, leads a ragtag, fugitive fleet, on a lonely quest—for a shining planet known as Earth."